


I'm right behind you

by thewinterangel



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: ARMIN IS A MONTH OLDER THAN EREN, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Asexual Armin Arlert, M/M, Modern Era, Not Reincarnation, They never met, its relevant to the story so i had to change it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-21
Updated: 2015-02-21
Packaged: 2018-03-14 10:12:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3406823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewinterangel/pseuds/thewinterangel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Soulmates AU: </p><p>On a person's 18th birthday they wake up with the first words their soulmate will say to them tattooed somewhere on their body. However, no one knows if they even have a soulmate until they wake up with a new tattoo on their body. Eren's birthday is coming up; will this mysterious thing work on him too?</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm right behind you

**Author's Note:**

> Heya! Ok so I had to change Armin's birthday for the sake of the story, you'll see why. 
> 
> I found the AU idea on Tumblr, it seemed adorable for these two dorks.
> 
> Please do comment, I'd like to read your thoughts!
> 
> Enjoy!

The day wasn't going as well as Eren hoped. It was raining, thunders and lightnings disturbing the previously peaceful sky. The streets were soaked, slippery and full of traffic. Everything Eren disliked. And all of that on the morning before his birthday. Ah, but it wasn't just any birthday; the 18th anniversary of living. He wasn't particularly excited, though. It seemed just as any other day. Birthdays were nice, but they were always too much work and he didn't really want to bother people with going through trouble for him.

Eren was walking home from the store, a black umbrella in his hand, barely managing to hold it straight from the wind. His sneakers were soaked as well as the ground beneath him; he really should've put something else on. His apartment wasn't that far away anyway. He thought about how hard it would be to unlock the door, but then remembered that Armin is probably home, and he constantly forgets to lock the door. To think that the smartest guy he knows would forget such a trivial thing.

They've been roommates for three years now. It was easier to pay the rent, so they decided to live together. Mikasa use to live with them too, but since her 18th birthday passed, she found her soulmate and moved away. Turns out it was some hotshot military guy, and they met outside the library while Mikasa was waiting for the boys to come out. She woke up that morning with the words 'Excuse me, can you help me with something?' written on her wrist. The guy needed help with directions, so he came up to her.

''Excuse me, can you help me with something?'', he asked, earning a freaked out look from Mikasa.

''Umm, yeah, sure..'', Mikasa replied, recieving the same look from the guy. Turns out he had her reply written on his calf.

Eren thought it was freaky. To just wake up one morning, with some stranger's words written over your body.. He didn't understand how this happened. But it obviously wasn't fake since it's been happening for centuries, and it happened to everyone. Well, not exactly everyone...

Armin's birthday passed as well. But he found no tattoos on himself. It was only then that Eren became aware that not everyone has a soulmate. Armin was okay with it, though. Never in his life did he feel any attraction to anyone, so this wasn't news to him. Even still, Armin started behaving weird after his birthday. Without any words, Eren sat Armin down on a bed one night and looked him in the eyes.

''You're not really okay with it, are you?'', Eren was direct. Armin's eyes immediately turned sad, his mouth stretching into a dark smile.

''Well, I don't really know. I mean, all this time I thought that I might have someone to spend my life with, even if I never liked anybody. I thought maybe something was wrong with me, but I still held hope that I will find love one day. I like the idea of it. But now..'', Armin closed his eyes and took a deep breath, ''now I see that this is just the way I am.''

''Armin, that's not a bad thing at all. You don't need a soulmate to be perfectly fine!'', Eren attempted to comfort him.

''I know, I know! And I don't feel bad about it! I just raised my expectations too high.'', Armin replied. They spent the whole night talking, and Armin finally came at peace with the fact that he is aromantic and asexual, and that there is nothing wrong with that.

Eren, on the other hand, got deeply worried by the fact that not everyone has a soulmate. He really wanted to have someone. His best friends were amazing, but unlike Armin, he wasn't aromantic, and he had a few relationships before. They never worked out, and it was only a reason more to be concerned. What if he were to wake up tomorrow without anything written on his body?

He finally reached their apartment. The door was unlocked of course, and he easily closed his umbrella and pushed through the front door.

''I'm home!'', he announced, immediately taking his soaked shoes and socks off.

''Heya, did you bring the marshmallows?'', Armin's voice reached him from the kitchen.

''Of course I did!'', Eren replied, trying to hang his umbrella on the closet to dry out but it kept falling down. His actions were becoming more violent with every attempt he made.

''What about orange juice?'', Armin's voice came again. Eren ignored the question; he was too focused on the annoying umbrella. Finally, his rage took over. He grabbed the umbrella, irritated with everything, and just slammed it into the floor. It didn't break, but it sure splashed water all over the place. Eren sighed and covered his eyes with his palm, trying to calm down. He was really stressing out about this too much.

''Eren?'', Armin called again, his voice followed by the sound of his footsteps. He reached the hallways and looked at Eren with confusion in his eyes. ''Um, everything alright?''

Eren twitched and turned to him, dropping his hand. ''Yeah! Yeah, sorry, I just...'', his look descended to the umbrella. ''This thing got the best of me.'', he laughed, attempting to hide the fact he was too worried about the following day. Armin leaned on the wall and crossed his hands.

''You sure about that? 'Cause if I'm not mistaken, it's your birthday tomorrow..'', he said, his voice soothing. Eren twitched and looked up at Armin.

''Am I that obvious?''

''Yeah, a lil' bit..'', Armin snickered and approached Eren, placing a hand on his shoulder. ''Hey, come on, you have nothing to worry about. Either way, you're gonna be fine. That's what you told me, remember?''

Eren smiled and nodded. ''Yeah. Thanks.'', he turned his head to face the shopping bag he dropped on the floor to deal with the umbrella. He bent down and took a bag of marshmallows out.

''Here's your damn marshmallows.'', he said, gently slamming the bag against Armin's chest. The blonde's face lit up as he grabbed the bag and smiled widely.

''THANK GOD, it's been so long since I ate these!!'', Armin cheered and ran back to the kitched. Eren laughed and cleaned up the mess he made.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

It's 7 pm. Damn, the day sure went by fast. The living room was quiet; the only thing heardable was the TV Eren watched. Well, he was staring at it but his mind was in a thousand other places. Armin spent the whole day closed in his room, munching on his marshmallows, writing some fiction novel about huge titans invading a whole city and what not. Eren thought it was pretty silly, but even despite all that Armin based the main character after Eren. He was really proud of his work, while Eren was proud of Armin himself; he really did come to peace with being alone. That was admirable. Eren didn't understand how asexuality worked though, but he still admired it. Armin was always a bit of a romanticiser, he always adored the idea of love, even though he never felt it.

''I don't want that..'', Eren caught himself mumbling silently. He frowned and closed his eyes. It's only a few hours until midnight, until the moment when he will find out whether or not he has a soulmate.

Finally, after half an hour of sitting on the couch with his eyes closed and trembling inside, Eren got up, heading for his room. He passed Armin's door and knocked on them twice.

''Hey buddy, I'm gonna go. 'Night!'', he yelled, not sure if Armin has headphones on or not. He continued walking forward, but was stopped by the sudden sound of door opening. 

''You're going to bed?'', Armin sounded surprised. Eren turned around and nodded.

''Yeah. It's just a few hours until.. Until tomorrow, and I don't wanna be awake to see it happen. I'm not ready yet.'', he said, his voice sounding frightened. He put on a slight smile at the end to make it look like he wasn't as nervous, but it failed. Armin frowned and took a few steps forward, and wrapped his arms around Eren.

''Don't think too much of it.'', Armin said and, after a few seconds, stepped back. ''There's no use. Trust me, I should know.'', his smile was very reassuring and calming. Eren nodded.

''Right. See you tomorrow then.'', he said, retreating to his room. He quickly took his clothes off, put a baggy T-shirt on and threw himself on the bed. This is it, he thought.

This is where it all changes.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The sun is up. The curtains of the room are closed, but there's still a few rays fo sunshine striking through. Eren rolls a few times on his bed, covered with a thin sheet, hands under his pillow, stomach faced down. Then he realises; he's awake. On his 18th birthday. His body stiffens, and his eyes fly wide open. He's still holding his pillow, and he doesn't have the courage to move. But he can't stay this way forever, now can he. If Mikasa and Armin got through this, then he will too. He has to.

Eren gulps, closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Finally, he releases the pillow and sits up.

'' _Let's do this._ '', he thinks, and opens his eyes. 

He raises his hands up slowly; he keeps turning them over in every direction, observes them from shoulders to the tips of his fingers, but he sees nothing. He even checked each of his fingers. Nothing. _It's okay, I still have the whole body to check_ , he tells himself as panic slowly begins to catch up. 

He grabs the sheet and throws it away from his body. He's completely uncovered now. His silver eyes filled with worry fall down to look at his legs; nothing. Even after doing the same thing he did with his arms, even after turning around and twisting his legs, there is nothing.

''Oh God...'', he says silently as his body begins to tremble. This cannot be real, this cannot be happening. He gulps again and shakes his head. 

''There's still my back, my stomach, my ass, my...'', he started comforting himself, and as he stopped speaking he stretched his boxers upwards. After a moment of observing, he put them back down. ''Well, it's not there either..'', he said as he sighed and covered his face with his palms. The level of frustration he felt was indescribable.

'' _Come on Eren, it has to be somewhere._ '', he thought, and dropped his hands to his shirt, agressively pulling it up. Nothing. His stomach was clear.

''No, no, no, no...'', he began saying, as his eyes filled up with tears; one more place to go. But he'll need Armin for this one. Eren jumped off of his bed and rushed out of the room, immediately knocking on Armin's bedroom door.

''A-Armin! I need your help!'', he yelled with a shaky voice and tears in his eyes, not really feeling guilty for waking him up because he knows Armin won't hold a grudge against that.

''Eren, I'm here! What's wrong?'', Armin rushed to the hall as soon as he heard Eren's broken voice. His eyes stopped on Eren's; Armin gasped slightly.

''Armin, it's... It's not here. Please, can you check my back?'', Eren tried to hold it together, but his voice was giving out on him. The blonde didn't hesitate one second. He walked up to Eren and spun him around to face his back. He grabbed his shirt and pulled it up.

''Eren..''

''Is it there? Armin tell me it's there, please!''

''I'm.. I'm sorry, there's nothing here.'', Armin let go of the shirt and stepped back. But Eren didn't move. At least not on purpose; his shoulders were trembling.

''Eren?'', the blonde silently asked. Eren slowly turned his body around; his face was red and wet, tears streaming down. Armin twitched at the sight; but not because of Eren's crying.

''Uh... Eren, y-you..'', Armin started talking, but noticed Eren's mind was somewhere else completely. He frowned and rushed to the bathroom to get a mobile mirror. It was small, but it was big enough for what Armin needed. He raised his hands and placed the mirror right in front of Eren's neck. 

''Eren.'', Armin called. No response.

''EREN!'', now the tall boy twitched, raising his head to look at his best friend with confusion. But instead of seeing his friend's face, he saw the reflection of his neck. The collar of his shirt seemed to be covering something black. Eren's eyes narrowed and he took a step forward. Focusing on the reflection, Eren grabbed the front of his collar and pulled it down.

Both of them gasped.

Eren's collarbones were covered with something what looked like black ink, and the font of the letters was beautiful; as if someone made extra effort on each and every letter.

''Armin.. Armin, I have it!'', Eren ran his fingers over his collarbones, not believing it's here. So he really does have a soulmate.

'' _Watch where you're going, you shitty brat!_ '', Armin read it out loud. They both looked at each other, both frowning with a smile. ''I reckon you're gonna crash into someone one day?''

''Who cares, I have the tattoo, I have a soulmate!!'' Eren cheered and threw his arms around Armin, who just returned the hug, happy that Eren got his wish. They celebrated for the whole morning. In fact, Eren felt so happy that he even tried to make pancakes. They were horrible and Armin had to remake them, but still, the gesture was nice!

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The day was beautiful, unlike the day before. Probably because Eren found out he has a soulmate, but the weather was perfect too. Unfortunately, since the boys spent all of the milk making double pancakes, Eren had to run to the store again. Besides, Armin ate all of the marshmallows. He was a junkie, really. Eren thought they were disgusting, so squishy and everything. But if Armin loved them, fine.

There was no crowd in the shop, so Eren was out pretty soon. Carrying nothing but a bag with milk and marshmallows, he headed home, walking on the same path as yesterday, only more happier and carefree. He heard the coocoo bird sing from one of the trees, and it seemed like it was pretty close. Eren threw his head back, trying to catch the bird with his eyes, scanning every tree branch above him. But right when he saw its tail, a piercing pain ran through his ribs and all the way up his spine, making him clench and fall down backwards.

Eren took deep breaths to control the pain, and he tried to deal with it without making a sound; his friends keep telling him he's too loud, so this is his way of working on it. But as he came at peace with the pain, he got interested as to what hit him so hard. He raised his head, only to see the legs of someone who was also on the floor. Eren's eyes flew wide open and he tried to get up, but the pain striked again and he fell back down on one knee, still holding back from making any sounds. 

He couldn't see quite well since his head was bent down, but he did notice that the man he crashed into got up just fine, with no injuries.

''Watch where you're going, you shitty brat!'', the man yelled in a deep, annoyed voice.

''I am so sorry, sir, I was trying to take a look at a bird and I...'', Eren began avoiding the man's eyes out of shame, but froze right after repeating the stranger's words in his head again. He looked straight into the man's eyes; he was just as shocked as Eren.

''Um..'', Eren let out.

''Are you...'', the man started, but out of some reason he stopped himself. Eren gulped and simply pulled the collar of his shirt down, revealing his tattoo. The man deeply frowned, but his body relaxed. Eren was confused; was this his soulmate? A man? The boy observed the man from head to toe; he actually wasn't bad looking. He was way shorter than Eren. His hair was perfectly devided in the middle, making symetrical arches on each side. His suit was pitch black, but the white shirt beneath his jacket was pretty much shinier than the sun itself. It was buttoned all the way up to the first button, and it looked quite silly, but when the man raised his hands to unbutton the first three buttons, Eren realised why he had been wearing it that way.

The man stretched his shirt and revelaed his collarbones as well; '' _I am so sorry, sir, I was trying to take a look at a bird and I..._ '' was written on the man's skin, in much smaller letters than Eren's, but it was just as beautiful. Eren gasped.

''You.. That's..'', Eren pointed it the man's chest and basically lost the ability to talk properly.

''Yeah.'', the man simply replied, his eyes calm and his voice chill. Eren ran a hand through his hair, but after a moment just stretched it out to shake the man's.

''I'm.. I'm Eren Jaeger.'', he said, nerviously holding his hand out, waiting for the other man's grip. But he recieved nothing more than a death glare on his hand.

''You just ran that through your hair.'', the man replied. Eren twitched.

''W-what?''

''I'm not shaking your hand until you wash it.'', the man was dead serious. Eren pulled his hand back and blushed.

''Hey! I'm not that dirty!!'', he yelled in the middle of the street, attracting a few confused looks from the people passing by. The man raised an eyebrow.

''You want to shake hands with me, wash yourself first.'', the short man replied, not changing the look on his face. Eren slightly pouted, annoyed by the stubborness of the man.

''Fine.'', he started spinning around to find some public restroom or a restaurant where he could wash his hands. Finally, he caught a coffee place in his sight.

''Okay, wait here!'', Eren said, turned on his heel and ran as fast as he could to the place, snuck into the toilet without anyone seeing and exited the same way. He just hoped for the man to still be there, since he didn't know if he made a good first impression or not. Actually no, he knew he made an absolutely _terrible_ first impression. So, he ran back just as fast as he ran the first time; luckily, the man was still there in the same spot, leaned against a wall with his back and his arms crossed.

''I'm back!'', he said, barely able to breathe. Levi pushed himself away from the wall and stretched his hand out first.

''Levi.'', the man spoke, his voice suddenly sounding a lot warmer than before. Eren looked at his hand and gladly grabbed it, shaking it with excitement.

''Eren! Glad to meet you!'', he sounded too happy for meeting one man. But it wasn't just any man. It was his soulmate. 

''How does this usually go?'', Levi asked. Eren noticed his eyes scanning him from head to toe, just as Eren did to Levi not so long ago.

''I don't know... I found this thing on me this morning. I didn't even know if I would have a soulmate or not..'', Eren replied, feeling a bit nervous under Levi's eyes. The shorter man was too perfect for Eren.

''Really? Well then, I suppose it would be just right for me to buy you lunch.'', Levi said, putting his hands in his pockets. Eren blushed. 

''W-what? Why? You don't have to do that, really, it's fine!'', the boy said, nerviously fidgeting in his spot. 

''It's your birthday, isn't it?'', Levi said, slowly turning and walking in the direction of a nearby restaurant. Eren wasn't moving; he still had trouble believing this was happening. He didn't even notice, but a minute has gone by, and Levi was far away already. 

''Oi, brat, you coming?'', he heard Levi's voice, and it snapped him out of his trance. There he was, his soulmate in distance, waiting for him so that they can begin their life together. Eren got the chills just by thinking about that. But he shook his head and started running forwards.

 

''I'm right behind you!''


End file.
